Presents exercises designed to make argument and discussion easier by situating them in institutional events where argument could be expected to happen: the governmental commission, the school board meeting, the congressional hearing. Shows how these imaginary places allow for creating three role play situations for different college classes. (PA)

Outlines two assignments: (1) analyzing an article from the popular press for its use of slanting and propaganda devices; and (2) writing an article that incorporates various techniques of slanting and propagandizing. Includes two "slanted" articles about Walter Mondale's presidential campaign to use in this exercise. (MM)

A three-phased writing assignment in Freshman Composition helps students move from writing narration and description to producing writing which supports and argues a point. In the first phase, the students are asked to write a paper which clearly states a point. In the second phase, students alter their first paper to conform to the needs of a…

Outlines a collaborative writing exercise designed to help students develop position statements for persuasive essays. Notes that this exercise helps students adopt the discursive style and language of the academic community, as well as develop reader-based arguments. (MM)

Group activities in the classroom can be a useful way to explore various standard rhetorical patterns. For descriptive writing, students can select and write about unsigned collages made by classmates. The writer can try to find a unifying theme that characterizes the artist's personality. A narrative component can be added to descriptive writing…

Intended for teachers of students in grades 4 through 8 and beyond, this book offers a simple process for teaching students to think critically and write logically. Each lesson in the book provides three different writing templates: the beginning template is intended for third- and fourth-grade students; the intermediate, for grades 4 through 6;…

The second edition of "Really Writing!" provides 40 real-life writing activities designed to capture the attention of young authors (grades 2 through 6) who are just learning the composing process. This book is also a resource for teaching advanced writers who are ready to experiment with a variety of writing and speaking genres. Each of the…

This document consists of five years (1988-1992, 10 issues) of the Singapore-based journal "Guidelines." Issues contain articles on a variety of topics in second language teaching. Topics include classroom language teaching strategies, techniques for teaching specific language skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) or knowledge…